Democrats need united front in order to beat President Donald Trump.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 15, 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls former US vice president Joe Biden (L) and Senator Bernie Sanders greet each other with a safe elbow bump before the start of the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, DC on March 15, 2020. - Three weeks ago, Joe Biden and rival Bernie Sanders were hosting rallies that attracted thousands. The pair often visited two states a day in their fierce and spirited battle for votes. Today, they appear online as lonely candidates hunkered down in their homes, forced off the trail and into campaign reinvention mode as the intensifying coronavirus pandemic upends the Democratic presidential primaries along with every other aspect of American life. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)(MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

Now that Bernie Sanders has accepted that he won’t be the Democratic nominee for president, his challenge is to urge supporters to become part of a unified front to defeat President Donald Trump in November.

It won’t be easy.

Sanders has some of the most loyal followers in American politics. Many of them are uninterested in backing anyone other than the Vermont senator. That dynamic played out in 2016, when part of the Sanders movement stayed home or voted for Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein. That hurt Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House.

Now Sanders, who in 2016 campaigned with Clinton, must find common ground with presumptive nominee Joe Biden, though they have significant policy differences. Sanders wants revolutionary change on issues like health care, the economy and criminal justice, while Biden embodies a more moderate approach.

Democrats argue that the primary goal toward any approach is the ouster of Trump. Sanders has to convince his supporters that a Biden presidency — as stale as it may seem to them — is more desirable than four more years of Trump.

Biden, the former vice president, could help unite the party by making some concession to Sanders on policy positions, and letting the Vermont independent have a voice at the convention.

Sanders wants a say in the party’s platform. That’s why he will still be amassing delegates in advance of the August Democratic National Convention.

That Sanders has come to the decision to wind down his campaign months before the convention is a step in the direction of unification. But he’s yet to officially endorse Biden, which is what’s needed to truly create unity.

After his 2016 defeat, Sanders became one of the most influential figures in politics because Democratic candidates across the country adopted many of his policy positions, including Medicare for All, free college tuition at public schools, paid family leave and curbing corporate greed.

He hopes to continue his fight, though it won’t be as the Democratic nominee for president.

“While this campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not,” Sanders said.

Gromer Jeffers Jr., political writer. The Howard University graduate and Chicago native has covered four presidential campaigns and written extensively about local, state and national politics. Before The News, he was a reporter at The Kansas City Star and The Chicago Defender. You can catch Gromer every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on NBC 5's Lone Star Politics.